Welcome to Earth System Science

Understanding global environmental issues such as global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion and worldwide air pollution requires the cooperation of scientists across many disciplines. Global change is projected to accelerate through the 21st century and will impact the ecosystems that preserve the habitability of the planet. The Department of Earth System Science focuses on the atmosphere, land and oceans - how they interact as a system - and how the Earth will change over a human lifetime.

Founded as a Geosciences program in 1989 with former Chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone as director, Earth System Science achieved department status in 1995. Less than a decade later, the Department of Earth System Science has earned a reputation as one of the most influential academic departments in the nation devoted to studying the Earth as a system.